Arsenal striker Alessia Russo netted a brace to help Jonas Eidevall’s side get off to a winning start to pre-season against NWSL outfit Washington Spirit.

Here are three observations from the Gunners’ Stateside runout:

Kids in America

“It all comes down to what we have been doing here for the last three years, trying to involve our academy more and more in pre-seasons, more and more in weeks where we have the ability to let them practice with the first team.” To Jonas Eidevall, the impressive displays from Arsenal’s youngsters at Audi Field yesterday came as no surprise.

Katie Reid, Vivienne Lia and Freya Godfrey were handed starts, with academy winger Lia tried out at right-back and the calm-headed Reid playing all 90 minutes.

Goalkeeper Naomi Williams looked sharp off her line and kept a personal clean sheet (I’ve just come up with that term) to help Arsenal over the line in D.C. after replacing Manu Zinsberger, and fellow academy talents Laila Harbert and Maddy Earl were also introduced from the bench along with 18-year-old Michelle Agyemang, who should have scored.

Pre-season is the perfect opportunity to blood some of these young players, all of whom had played well when Arsenal headed to Australia at the end of last season. What the club decides their next steps will be is set to prove crucial. 

Should Arsenal not add further to their defensive roster, Reid will likely remain with the first-team, whilst the likes of Godfrey and Agyemang could benefit from further loan spells.

Rosa Kafaji has made Arsenal fans very excited

How about that for an introduction for Arsenal’s most recent summer signing? After arriving from Swedish side BK Hacken, Rosa Kafaji jumped on the plane to Washington and jumped into action at Audi Field.

The pacy, instinctive forward came off the bench at half-time and showed those in attendance and those watching around the world a glimpse of what she is capable of, including assisting Russo’s winning goal.

Kafaji was given a versatile role in her positioning, both playing wide and coming in behind Russo, as well as pushing up alongside her. So much more is to come from the 21-year-old.

And speaking of Alessia Russo…

Who else but Russo to score Arsenal’s first, and second, goals of pre-season. The first, a proper striker’s goal, in the right place to instinctively flick the ball past Aubrey Kingsbury with the outside of her foot.

Perhaps former North Carolina Courage star Russo was a little more at home with the sweltering conditions on her return to the States, but the England striker was a constant threat at Audi Field. 

Her linkup with Kafaji and cool finish to win the game for Arsenal signified a player who is raring for more goals in 2024/25.